It’s a grab bag of items on the radar this week. Wolverine and Sabretooth have dinner together, Bruno himself could be the next Man in Black, and in honor of The Flickcast crew attending SXSW some Predators love (of which they may get a taste).

Predators get dark and scary…finally!

Robert Rodriquez’s Predator reboot, Predators, is starting to get some buzz.  While the first film of the series was a great sci-fi/action hybrid subsequent films have been less than stellar.  Predators star, Alice Braga talked a little about the new film and what we can expect:

“The new Predators are dark. They are really, really scary. So I think the fans are really going to be happy with it. I hope so. The director Nimród Antal, he’s a fan of the Predator films. So it’s like a fan directing this, [it was] like a kid on set, and having that energy was very special. I wish I could tell you more.”

Here’s hoping “dark” and “scary” means an R-rated film and not a watered down PG-13 movie.

Conan will square off against Avatar villain

As an update to our last ‘On The Radar’ article, it has now been confirmed that actor Stephen Lang will indeed play Conan’s villain, Khalar Singh.  Speaking with MTV, Lang stated:

“I have no idea how I’m going to do it,” Lang laughed. “First I’m going to find out how I’m going to sound. I’m going to get back on a Mongolian pony and ride like the wind. I’m going to flash my scimitar. I’m going to cut the nuts off Conan and his father.”

That last threat may seem really out there, but after seeing Lang’s bad ass side in Avatar I have no doubt he can make good on it.

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Even though many of us here at The Flickcast are looking forward to the SXSW Film/Interactive/Music Festival which starts at the end of the week, it doesn’t mean we don’t care about new comics coming out tomorrow. What are we, crazy?

Of course, being the huge Marvel fans we are, we’re always on the lookout for new books to add to our collections. Fortunately, the fine folks at Marvel are always happy to oblige. They’ve even sent us yet another list of comics coming out this week to help.

Remember to get to your nearest comic shop early for best selection. Don’t know where your nearest comic shop is? Use this handy guide to find one.

Check ‘em out:

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #624
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #624 YF VARIANT
BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY! #1
CABLE #24
CRIMINAL: THE SINNERS #5
DARK X-MEN #5
FANTASTIC FOUR #575 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
HULK: LET THE BATTLE BEGIN #1
IRON MAN 2 SPOTLIGHT

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Women, you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them — especially if you’re a grown man-child living in your parent’s basement. That is, until now. The “Women of Marvel” is a year-long celebration of, you guessed it, the women of Marvel Comics.

Marvel intends to celebrate women not only in the superhero realm but also the real life creators and artists. Marvel sees us standing impatiently in lines for Avatar and says, “Hey, maybe she’d like to read something to take her mind off of the 3 hour and $18 dollar ticket price.”

First off, I commend Marvel for spotlighting half of the human population. Yes, we women are out there and some of us are geeks. For the past few years I have been reading about Marvel’s company and comic book events.

I found Civil War to be expertly drawn and relevant, I was thankful that House of M was both brief and Wolverine-centric, and I was patient as Skrullacost (aka Secret Invasion) ended in a forgone conclusion. I was ecstatic when Marvel also dedicated a month to my favorite hairball, Wolvie.

Now that I liked, especially the article about the state of the canuckle’s head when he sat down on the couch for some therapy. It’s safe to say I’m excited about some Marvel events and less so about others, which is fine considering events span the far reaches of the Marvel universe.

However, when I heard about a year-long celebration of a gender I am wholly bias about, a smile spread on my face. Maybe it was due to the fact the most recent San Diego Comic-Con was comprised of 40% women or the line of Twihards stretched for miles, but whatever the cause the impact is slowly changing the marketplace for the well-rounded better and Marney (Marvel + Disney) is diving into the deep end.

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As we saw last month, big things are coming for the Avengers brand after the events of Siege. First was the Avengers title which was quickly followed up with the Secret Avengers marketing blitz. In addition to the upcoming Avengers Academy, it now looks like New Avengers will be relaunching as well. So far, Marvel has only announced three members of this team.

First up comes Spider-Man. Always reluctant to be a part of a larger team as he has seen what it has done to his personal life in the past and the sheer volume of his own personal rogue’s gallery, Spidey has been one of the most entertaining pieces of the current New Avengers lineup. With the upcoming film reboot, it isn’t much surprise that Marvel would like to try to get everyone’s favorite wall crawler as much exposure as possible.

The next member was a little more of a surprise though as Luke Cage’s mug showed up in the second New Avengers marketing piece. It looks like Luke will be pulling double duty as both a New Avenger and the leader of the upcoming Thunderbolts team. Though the premise of the Thunderbolts has been former villains looking for redemption, there is a real stretch to believe Luke would be a part of that team.

The combination of Ghost who has tried to kill Tony Stark, Crossbones who shot Steve Rogers and Moonstone who has tried to kill any Avengers she could, it seems very unrealistic to believe Luke Cage would actually opt to lead this band of misfits. The further combination of the Juggernaut and Man-Thing to the mix just adds further conclusion.

Hopefully Luke will be able to get out of there quick before all the time Bendis has spent building him up turns out to be for naught.

This morning, Marvel announced a third member to the lineup with the addition of Wolverine. It is starting to make sense why this team’s lineup has been the last to be announced as it so far hasn’t changed from the current New Avengers title. The dynamic of these non-original team members is already set up and, let’s face it, works great already. Seeing Wolverine continue his triple duty as a member of the X-Men, X-Force and an Avengers squad hasn’t run the character dry after years of doing it already and if it continues the macho big brother, geeky little brother relationship that Logan shares with Spider-Man then we are all for it.

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I’d just like to begin this review by pointing out that close to 50% of the audience for the latest Wolverine film was women. Yes….women. Why may you ask? Was it because of the brilliant action scenes in which Wolvie slowly walked away from an explosion that would normally kill a human being very quickly? No.

Was it because adding a fan-favorite character like Cyclops, who in the normal Marvel-verse would not have been born yet, but due to the need to add as many discernible characters as possible was thrown into the mix? No.

The answer is Hugh Jackman looks damn fine without his shirt on and women crave a alpha male who can kill any of your ex-boyfriends lickety-split but would rather spend time by the fire listening to your day. What does this all have to do with Wolverine Weapon X #10 you ask?

The answer (the final answer) is Marvel every once in awhile sticks behind their writers and their crazy hatched plans to write an issue about…..oh no….gasp…characterization and relationships.

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Even with Thanksgiving right around the corner, that hasn’t stopped Marvel from dropping some great comics this week for your reading pleasure. Some of the one’s we’re particularly interested in this week include the latest issue of Avengers: The Initiative, the new Hulk, the latest Criminal: The Sinners and Dark Wolverine #80.

Be sure to check out the list of all the upcoming Marvel comics below. And, as always, be sure to click through for some cool cover art from some of these comics after the jump as well. Now go and enjoy some Thanksgiving comics.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #613 (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #613 VILLAIN VARIANT (GNTLT)
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #30
CRIMINAL: THE SINNERS #2
DAREDEVIL #501 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
DARK AVENGERS: ARES #2
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – HULK 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – SECRET WARRIORS 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
DARK TOWER: THE FALL OF GILEAD #6
DARK TOWER: THE FALL OF GILEAD #6 RANEY VARIANT
DARK TOWER: THE FALL OF GILEAD #6 SKETCH VARIANT
DARK WOLVERINE #80

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Previously, we had taken you behind the scenes to see how these motion comics are made with some of the production team. This time around we’ve got another look behind the scenes with a different facet of the production. This one, hosted by David Goldberg of Edge Studio, give some insight into how the dialog and sound effects are designed and recorded. It also shows you a few of the voice actors hard at work giving life to their characters.

Also, as we agree to do, here’s the official Marvel description of the video and the motion comic:

Get a behind the scenes look at the chart-topping Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic with this all new video. Based on the acclaimed story by superstars Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and John Cassaday (Captain America), the X-Men are faced with a mysterious new villain and a possible cure for the mutant gene. Now Cyclops, Wolverine and all your favorite mutants must face the greatest threats of their lives and, before it’s all done, experience one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Marvel history.

Be sure and check out the video after the jump, especially if you’re a fan of these kinds of behind the scenes things like we are. The Astonishing X-Men MOCO is available now at iTunes and on Hulu.

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Once again its time for the list of the comics on sale from our friends at Marvel this week. Catching our interest this week are the latest issue of Punisher, Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, Dark Avengers and the new Kookaburra. As always, be sure to check out the list below and after the jump some great covers for some of these new comics.

Comics On-Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612 BLACK CAT VARIANT
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612 GRANOV COVER
DARK AVENGERS #11
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HERO VARIANT
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VILLAIN VARIANT
DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #5
DOMINIC FORTUNE #4
INCREDIBLE HULK #604
KOOKABURRA K #1
KOOKABURRA K #1 VARIANT
MIGHTY AVENGERS #31
NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #3

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Our friends at Marvel have sent us yet another video that we can bring you. This time, its a character profile of Silver Surfer from from their animated kid’s show Super Hero Squad, which airs weekdays on Cartoon Network.

The video is pretty cute, especially if you’re a kid and helps to understans the motivations and history of one of the most complex and interesting characters in the Marvel U. So, be sure to check out the video after the jump.

Also, as we are asked to do, following is the text the company has sent along to go with the video. And again, be sure to click through and enjoy the video.

Silver Surfer

As the Squad’s resident alien, the Surfer is a fish-out-of-water, constantly puzzled and amazed at the strange customs and culture of Earthlings. The Surfer, for all his innocence, is in hiding.

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As we’ve done previously, we’ve got a preview of the brand new Marvel motion comic Astonishing X-Men: Gifted. Featuring the talents of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, this project offers fans a cool way to enjoy a great comic story on their favorite portable device like an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Even though I’m a fan of reading paper comics and I hope they don’t go away any time soon, this is just another way in which new fans can potentially be brought into the fold. Which is a good thing. Plus, with this kind of story and the talent involved, you have to expect this to be a pretty big success for Marvel. Hopefully, that will mean more comics will be getting the “motion” treatment.

So, check out this preview and enjoy it. Also, as we agreed to do in order to bring you cool things like this, following is Marvel’s “official” info about this project and this preview.

Marvel is proud to unveil your first look at episode 2 of the Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic! Based on the acclaimed story by superstars Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and John Cassaday (Captain America), the X-Men are faced with a mysterious new villain and a possible cure for the mutant gene! Now Cyclops, Wolverine and all your favorite mutants must face the greatest threats of their lives and, before it’s all done, experience one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Marvel history!

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